Novelty Check
GRIND-Lab-Core/night_owl_research_agent
Validates that a research idea is genuinely novel vs. An agent skill from GRIND-Lab-Core/night_owl_research_agent.
Workflow 1: Full idea discovery pipeline. An agent skill from AI4Scientist/nano-scientist.
Install Idea Discovery
The automated check flagged lines worth reading first. See the safety section below.
$ npx skills add AI4Scientist/nano-scientist --skill idea-discovery -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install AI4Scientist/nano-scientist idea-discovery --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/idea-discovery .claude/skills/idea-discovery && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.
Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/
Install the "idea-discovery" agent skill from https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist/tree/main/skills/idea-discovery into .claude/skills/idea-discovery/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "idea-discovery", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist/tree/main/skills/idea-discoveryType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add AI4Scientist/nano-scientist --skill idea-discovery -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install AI4Scientist/nano-scientist idea-discovery --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/idea-discovery .agents/skills/idea-discovery && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "idea-discovery" agent skill from https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist/tree/main/skills/idea-discovery into .agents/skills/idea-discovery/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "idea-discovery", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add AI4Scientist/nano-scientist --skill idea-discovery -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install AI4Scientist/nano-scientist idea-discovery --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/idea-discovery .cursor/skills/idea-discovery && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "idea-discovery" agent skill from https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist/tree/main/skills/idea-discovery into .cursor/skills/idea-discovery/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "idea-discovery", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist.git --path skills/idea-discovery--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add AI4Scientist/nano-scientist --skill idea-discovery -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install AI4Scientist/nano-scientist idea-discovery --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/idea-discovery .gemini/skills/idea-discovery && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "idea-discovery" agent skill from https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist/tree/main/skills/idea-discovery into .gemini/skills/idea-discovery/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "idea-discovery", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install AI4Scientist/nano-scientist idea-discoveryInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add AI4Scientist/nano-scientist --skill idea-discovery -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/idea-discovery .github/skills/idea-discovery && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "idea-discovery" agent skill from https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist/tree/main/skills/idea-discovery into .github/skills/idea-discovery/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "idea-discovery", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add AI4Scientist/nano-scientist --skill idea-discovery -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install AI4Scientist/nano-scientist idea-discovery --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/idea-discovery .opencode/skills/idea-discovery && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "idea-discovery" agent skill from https://github.com/AI4Scientist/nano-scientist/tree/main/skills/idea-discovery into .opencode/skills/idea-discovery/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "idea-discovery", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
idea-discovery- GitHub stars
- 128
- Used in
- 3 other repos
- Token cost
- ~3.8k tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 1,352 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 74
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- None found
At a glance
Workflow 1: Full idea discovery pipeline. An agent skill from AI4Scientist/nano-scientist.
- Works in 9 steps: Load Research Brief (if available) → 5: Reference Paper Summary (when… → Literature Survey → …
- User says 找idea全流程
- SKILL.md covers Overview, Constants, Pipeline and Output Protocols, plus 2 more sections
- Reaches arxiv.org
What it does
Idea Discovery is an agent skill from AI4Scientist/nano-scientist. Workflow 1: Full idea discovery pipeline. Orchestrates research-lit → idea-creator → novelty-check → research-review to go from a broad research direction to validated, pilot-tested ideas. Use when user says "找idea全流程", "idea discovery pipeline", "从零开始找方向", or wants the complete idea exploration workflow.
Its SKILL.md is about 3.8k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.
It sits in Research & Science. It works with OpenAI and arXiv. The repository describes itself as: An autonomous research agent that turns a topic into a peer-reviewed technical report.
When your agent uses it
- User says 找idea全流程
- Idea discovery pipeline
- Wants the complete idea exploration workflow
Example prompts
- “找idea全流程”
- “idea discovery pipeline”
- “从零开始找方向”
- “/idea-discovery”
Requirements
- Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Bash(*), Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, WebSearch, WebFetch, Agent, Skill, mcp__codex__codex, mcp__codex__codex-reply
Workflow steps
9 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.
- Load Research Brief (if available)
- 5: Reference Paper Summary (when REF_PAPER is set)
- Literature Survey
- Idea Generation + Filtering + Pilots
- Deep Novelty Verification
- External Critical Review
- 5: Method Refinement + Experiment Planning
- Final Report
- 5: Write Compact Files (when COMPACT = true)
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 7132192. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.
Tool permissions
Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:
Bash(*)ReadWriteEditGrepGlobWebSearchWebFetchAgentSkill
…and 2 more on the same allowed-tools line.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are markdown).
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:
arxiv.org
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.
Context cost
Idea Discovery loads about 3.8k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 80 tokens; SKILL.md has 1,352 words of instructions outside code blocks.
Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.
Safety
Auto-check: warnings
The automated check found patterns that need a careful read before installing.
- WarningTells the agent its actions are pre-authorized / not to stop for confirmationSKILL.md:319
t << 'EOF' > file`) to write in chunks. Do NOT ask the user for permission — just do it silently. - NotePre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: Bash)SKILL.md
allowed-tools: Bash(*), Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, WebSearch, WebFetch, Agent, Skill, mcp__codex__codex, mcp__c
Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.
SKILL.md
Without a licence we can't republish the file, so here is its outline and opening line. It has 1,352 words (~3,786 tokens).
“Orchestrate a complete idea discovery workflow for: $ARGUMENTS”
- name
- idea-discovery
- allowed-tools
- Bash(*), Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, WebSearch, WebFetch, Agent, Skill, mcp__codex__codex, mcp__codex__codex-reply
- argument-hint
- research-direction
Files
Just SKILL.md in skills/idea-discovery of AI4Scientist/nano-scientist.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 7132192
Used in 3 other repositories
We found 7 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 3 other GitHub owners. This page covers the copy in AI4Scientist/nano-scientist, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.
Compare with similar skills
Idea Discovery next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idea Discovery this skillAI4Scientist/nano-scientist | 128 | 3 repos | ~3.8k | Automated safety check: Warn | None | |
| Novelty CheckGRIND-Lab-Core/night_owl_research_agent | 106 | — | ~1k | Automated safety check: Pass | None | |
| Read arXiv Paperkarpathy/nanochat | 59k | 1 repos | ~494 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Literature Reviewneflibata-feng/MyArxiv-Agent | 126 | 20 repos | ~5.9k | Automated safety check: Notes | MIT | |
| Openalex Databaseneflibata-feng/MyArxiv-Agent | 126 | 12 repos | ~3k | Automated safety check: Pass | Custom licence | |
| Citation Verification GuideGalaxy-Dawn/claude-scholar | 5.7k | 2 repos | ~1.9k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
Similar skills
Read arXiv Paper
karpathy/nanochat
Fetches the TeX source of an arXiv paper from its URL, reads it and writes a markdown summary tied to the nanochat project.
Literature Review
neflibata-feng/MyArxiv-Agent
Conduct comprehensive, systematic literature reviews using multiple academic databases (PubMed, arXiv, bioRxiv, Semantic Scholar, etc.).
Openalex Database
neflibata-feng/MyArxiv-Agent
Query and analyze scholarly literature using the OpenAlex database.
Citation Verification Guide
Galaxy-Dawn/claude-scholar
Reference guidance for checking every citation in academic writing against canonical sources such as DOI, arXiv, CrossRef and Semantic Scholar, to catch fake or wrong references.
Citation Management
K-Dense-AI/claude-scientific-writer
Finds papers in OpenAlex, PubMed and Google Scholar, turns DOIs, PMIDs and arXiv IDs into clean BibTeX, and validates citations for a manuscript or thesis.
More from AI4Scientist/nano-scientist
All 74 skills in this repoFormula Derivation
AI4Scientist/nano-scientist
Structures and derives research formulas when the user wants to 推导公式, build a theory line, organize assumptions, turn scattered equations into a coherent derivation, or rewrite theory notes into a…
Paper Compile
AI4Scientist/nano-scientist
Compile LaTeX paper to PDF, fix errors, and verify output. An agent skill from AI4Scientist/nano-scientist.
Paper Figure
AI4Scientist/nano-scientist
Generate publication-quality figures and tables from experiment results.
Paper Navigator
AI4Scientist/nano-scientist
Find and read academic papers: disambiguate queries, discover papers (search, citation traversal, recommendations, arXiv monitoring, trending, GitHub search), evaluate (TLDR, citations, code, SOTA)…
Proof Writer
AI4Scientist/nano-scientist
Writes rigorous mathematical proofs for ML/AI theory. An agent skill from AI4Scientist/nano-scientist.
Ablation Planner
AI4Scientist/nano-scientist
A skill your agent uses when main results pass result-to-claim (claimsupported=yes or partial) and ablation studies are needed for paper submission.
Related
Categories
Questions about Idea Discovery
What does Idea Discovery do?
Workflow 1: Full idea discovery pipeline. An agent skill from AI4Scientist/nano-scientist. Idea Discovery is an agent skill from AI4Scientist/nano-scientist. Workflow 1: Full idea discovery pipeline.
When should I use Idea Discovery?
Idea Discovery fits situations like: user says 找idea全流程; idea discovery pipeline; wants the complete idea exploration workflow.
How do I install Idea Discovery in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add AI4Scientist/nano-scientist --skill idea-discovery -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/idea-discovery in AI4Scientist/nano-scientist) into .claude/skills/idea-discovery in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Idea Discovery in Codex?
Run `npx skills add AI4Scientist/nano-scientist --skill idea-discovery -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/idea-discovery in AI4Scientist/nano-scientist) into .agents/skills/idea-discovery in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Idea Discovery in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?
Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add AI4Scientist/nano-scientist --skill idea-discovery -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/idea-discovery, .gemini/skills/idea-discovery, .github/skills/idea-discovery and .opencode/skills/idea-discovery in your project.
What does Idea Discovery need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Idea Discovery is instructions for the agent only. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Bash(*), Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, WebSearch, WebFetch, Agent, Skill, mcp__codex__codex, mcp__codex__codex-reply.
Does Idea Discovery access the network?
SKILL.md names 1 domain. In commands or code: arxiv.org; the agent is likely to contact it when it follows the instructions. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Idea Discovery safe to install?
Our automated static check of SKILL.md flagged 1 warning(s): tells the agent its actions are pre-authorized / not to stop for confirmation. Read the flagged lines before installing; the check is not a guarantee either way.
What licence does Idea Discovery use?
No licence was found for Idea Discovery or its repository. Without one, default copyright applies: ask the author before reusing or redistributing it.
How many tokens does Idea Discovery use?
About 3.8k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 15k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.
What are the alternatives to Idea Discovery?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Idea Discovery: Novelty Check (GRIND-Lab-Core/night_owl_research_agent, 106 stars), Read arXiv Paper (karpathy/nanochat, 59k stars), Literature Review (neflibata-feng/MyArxiv-Agent, 126 stars) and Openalex Database (neflibata-feng/MyArxiv-Agent, 126 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Idea Discovery?
AI4Scientist (a GitHub organization) maintains it in AI4Scientist/nano-scientist, which has 128 GitHub stars. The repository holds 74 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on June 3, 2026.
Source: AI4Scientist/nano-scientist on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.